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Everyday life with teenagers can be a hassle and a half, but when you are making the transition from one residence to another, tensions can run extra high. Here’s how to get moving with teenagers…and keep your head.
Have them give their opinions and write down how the transition is making them feel. Teenagers will have out-of-control hormones and mood swings no matter what, and moving could take this to the next level. When you are making a transition, let your teen know that his or her input is valid and appreciated, and encourage him or her to write in a journal to express thoughts that they may not want to share.
Make a scrapbook, or some kind of digital memory collection, of the old home together. It can be jarring for a teenager to move, especially if they are moving from a home where they grew up or spent most of their childhood years. Your teen may identify with the old house on a level that isn’t necessarily obvious from the outside, so having a place where he or she can reminisce about the childhood years spent living there is a good idea.
Give your teen a few solid tasks to complete. This is good not only for your teenager, but also for you. The benefits are twofold: your teen can feel like he or she has a hand in what’s going on. Awesome tasks for teenagers to complete are getting free moving boxes, finding packing supplies, packing up their clothing, and creating an inventory of things that you may have placed in storage.
Take a second to imagine this: all your boxes are packed, your professional movers show up on moving day bright and early, your things get loaded onto the moving truck and taken off a few hours later at your destination, you tip your movers and you begin the process of unpacking in your new home the next day. When you open a box, you find—to your horror—that some of your belongings have been smashed to a thousand pieces.
You call the moving company, and they assist you in filling out a claim form for the damages. You wait for a resolution, and wait, and wait some more. Finally, when you have not been reimbursed and you want the moving company to pay for the harm they caused to your household goods, you decide you want to take them to court.
This is where an arbitrator steps in. It’s the duty of an arbitrator to provide an unbiased liaison service between the moving company and the customer, and to solve disagreements before a case progresses to small claims court. Every moving company is required by law to have arbitration, and it’s a good thing: when you have an arbitrator working to fix disputes, the process of getting the issue resolved goes much faster and more efficiently than a lengthy court case.